Children's Discovery Museum — Attraction in Troy

The people who work there are LOVELY!! Very nice customer service & always made themselves available to us by checking in from time to time without being 'right up our rear' if you know what I mean.

The exhibits could use some updating for sure... which is weird because pretty sure they just re-opened. For instance, the flowers & gardening exhibit, could use new flowers. The grocery store & food exhibit.. The food was all made out of CLOTH 🤢🤮 That's gross, sorry. Plus you could tell it was ancient (or at least LOOKED ancient - BECAUSE it's cloth); it ABSOLUTELY should be WOODEN food or at the very LEAST, PLASTIC. Something easily CLEANED (which hopefully everything is disinfected on a regular basis; I saw no real evidence to the contrary other than the cloth food which I was kinda shocked about). I'm sure it was cute when it was brand new, but now it definitely needs updated.

The other thing that could stand to be updated is their website..... My son was SO EXCITED to go and play on the excavator they have advertised on their website, but when we got there, there WAS NO excavator. It was a little bit of a disappointment, but not a huge deal.

The log & wood building kit in the nature (I guess you'd call it) "room"/display was neat & all but again, stuffed animals (Maybe it's just me, but I don't want my kid hugging/ snuggling a stuffed animal that some other snot-nosed kid who may not be as clean or is sick is snuggling/hugging/kissing; Especially post covid🤷🏼‍♀️). Although I don't know what they would replace these animals with as they WERE def a cute addition. I don't have a suggestion for this. Not sure what they're called, but they had these extra large wooden building sticks kind of like a modern Lincoln Log or whatever (but HUGE), these are FANTASTIC, BUT, there's not ENOUGH OF them.. We asked the lady if there was any more of the little pieces (think Lincoln Logs; those tiny pieces to make windows & corners) but she said they didn't have anymore.... There wasn't enough to build a house large enough to fit even a small child in... When we got there it looked like a house big enough was in the works, but like I said there wasn't enough pieces to FINISH it, so we built a very tiny house that my son couldn't fit in.

They have an artifact, fossil, X-ray type exhibits but my son skipped over these completely. Same with the create your own dress display although IIIII was in LOVE with that! 🤣😂 I'm sure little girls would be too! But AGAIN, they could use some more fabric and more fabric cut to shapes that would actually create what a girl would WANT to create.

My son & I LOVED the fishing hole! Cutest (AND NEATEST) thing EVER! Plus REAL fishing poles that actually WORK (reel) & are life sized. VERY cool!

They also have a HUGE checkers set, XL Connect-4, a Lego table, those suction cup toys (I can't think of their name right now) & a display where you can kind of try to throw them like darts at, a huge Jenga set & the huge foam building blocks! We LOVED this room too!!!

We also really enjoyed the mailroom & the mechanic shop with an awesome & fun e-car (doesn't actually drive unfortunately, but REALLY cool how they have it set to be "worked on" for the kids!!)!

They have a matchbox car track that is absolutely awesome and goes from probably 10 ft high to the ground, but unfortunately, a car was stuck at the top which prevented my son from actually being able to use and see how the cars go the entire length of the track 😞 If they could find an easier way to fix these issues as they pop up this exhibit would be awesome!

So all in all, my child DID have a BLAST there but in an ADULT'S opinion, it still could use a little work. I do however recognize that this is all probably customer, taxpayer, and volunteer funded & stocked so I COMPLETELY understand why it's not "100% perfect". Hence the 4 Star rating. 🤷🏼‍♀️ At the end of the day, we DID have fun & we want to THANK the staff for being so...

My kids have so stinkin’ much fun at the Children’s Discovery Museum! I had no idea what to expect, and was totally impressed the first time we visited. Many of the “stations” inside have been sponsored by local businesses, and have been beautifully built out of baltic birch plywood and carefully engineered for maximum “playability” by a large range of ages (the first time we went, my 1.5 year old and my 5.5 year old were equally engaged the full 2.5 hours we were there.)

The core stations (post office, hardware store, pizzeria, fishing hole, nature observation table, light table with translucent magnetic building tiles, farm stand/restaurant, crafting pergola, gear wall, school bus, mechanic, giant “lite-brite”, “rooftop” garden, two story Matchbox car spiral run, hollow “log”/camp out area, and soft space/reading area with a HUGE selection of picture books, etc.) remain more or less constant, with new stations being added pretty regularly. They also offer a coloring table and a “craft of the month” station with quick and easy craft projects you can complete with your child. There are also cabinets and shelves along one wall containing small world play items like animal figurines, building toys, and games. All stations are basically good for all ages, though with very little kids (under age 2.5?) extra supervision may be needed with the rooftop garden, (as it involves climbing and ultimately descending a set of kid-sized stairs to access the “roof,”) and with small pieces in the crafts and games sections.

I pretty quickly decided a year-long membership was in order- it’s a great place to take a kid on a rainy (or snowy!) day to burn some physical and mental energy. It’s worth noting that on rainy or snowy days, visitors are asked to remove shoes and boots to keep the area clean, so be sure to bring or wear socks! Cubbies are provided in a separate cubby room by the front desk. The front desk also typically offers a small selection of snacks for hangry patrons, a few little educational prizes, and socks for purchase (just in case.)

My one and only criticism pertains solely to the party room rental. The pros:

1. it’s a HUGE space with more than enough tables for kids and parents,
2. the staff lay out bins full of activities including Duplos, blanket fort materials, a giant floor checkers board, and giant foam building blocks for party-goers to use inside the party room, so that (if you wanted) you truly could throw a very decent birthday party without even utilizing the museum’s main/public play space. (Note: like most indoor party venue rentals, helium balloons are NOT allowed due to ceiling fire sprinklers.)

The con: The party room (and only the party room!) is a pretty dated space. It could use some new carpet and a coat of paint (not deal breakers.) It is also, however, DARK. The minimal lighting available in the room is all 20 feet overhead. I wouldn’t ordinarily care much about it, but at an event like your child’s birthday, you’re obviously going to want to take pictures and/or video, and the lack of light in the space makes that super challenging. They charge what I feel is a relatively average fee for 2 hours of reserved use of the space, but for the cost, I definitely feel at least better lighting is...

Such a letdown after waiting so long with such fanfare. The larger room with the new displays is very underwhelming. There is alot of unfilled space and several broken or missing items including a race track unable to use as it wasn't built properly. The giant wooden rack one of only two major display peices in the middle of the room is quit confusing. It takes up alot of space and just has a bunch of tangles yarn bits tied around it and a bird nest up top. If it's intended for decoration it would be much better replaced with functional play area. The few complete play places are imaginative including a race car with removable wheels and a mechanic shop but in combination with the small space and little activities it's very crowded with more than 10/15 kids. There is also a slightly separated room where a very creative log sits with some padding and book nook areas. This area is great for quiet exploring. However while there children were leaping off the log as children do and they either hit or nearly hit their heads on the frame which is barely a foot away several times while we were there. They do have a dedicated eating space and claimed a quiet sensory space for kids who needed calming but the only space we saw was behind the stage curtain and it was filled with piles of stuff so couldn't have been intended for a quiet sensory space. Now there is also a smaller room in front of the stage that had a few activities like a sequin board and Legos and fort building materials but these items looked like they came from my playroom everything was very shabby well worn and confusing for a brand new children's museum. It genuinely feels like they blew their budget on a few massive peices and then had no other choice but to open and start bringing in income somehow. The finished areas are nice but the rest is so shabby unclean well worn and desperately in need of a coat of paint. It's ludicrous to expect families to fork over 8 dollars for every person child to adult when this is what is available in the condition it's in. 8 dollars per child maybe and that's if you repair the broken displays and THOROUGHLY clean in all those little spaces and paint over the dirt and stains and cobwebs. Also if you advertise on your website that you have a fund available for low income families then you need to provide that when asked, the employee at the desk claimed there was no such thing but your website advertises a fun fund for free entry. This could have been such an amazing place I don't know how this...